Newshttp://whakatane-mechanism.org/news.xml
enIUCN: Steps must be made to address the power imbalance against indigenous peopleshttp://whakatane-mechanism.org/news/201609iucn-steps-must-be-made-address-power-imbalance-against-indigenous-peoples
<h2><a href="/news/201609iucn-steps-must-be-made-address-power-imbalance-against-indigenous-peoples">IUCN: Steps must be made to address the power imbalance against indigenous peoples</a></h2> <div>
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<span>4 September, 2016</span> </div>
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<p>Steps will be made to grow the Whakatane Mechanism into a device that can help redress power imbalances against indigenous peoples, and become a conflict resolution tool that can be available to all for the long-term.</p>
<p>The decision was made as part of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) World Conservation Congress, being held in Hawai’i until September 10. One of the events hosted by Forest Peoples Programme, <em>Can Whakatane Conflict Resolution Processes Snowball to the Global? Resolving community/conservation conflicts</em> brought together some 36 experts in their field to talk about the tension that occurs when indigenous peoples lose their rights to their land because it is designated as a national park or protected area. This frequently occurs despite their having been custodians of the land and the ecosystem for generations, and their presence and care for their lands being the reason why conservationists see value in it.</p>
<p>Introducing the event, UN Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Peoples Vicky Tauli-Corpuz said: “People should really realise that these indigenous peoples have been living there for so long and have managed to save the forests, and save the marine life. They should be able to continue living there. What is it that’s making it so difficult?”</p><p class="read-more"><a href="/news/201609iucn-steps-must-be-made-address-power-imbalance-against-indigenous-peoples">Read more</a></p>Sun, 04 Sep 2016 10:02:03 +0000admin107 at http://whakatane-mechanism.orgProgress made on recognising rights of communities - World Conservation Congress motionshttp://whakatane-mechanism.org/news/201609progress-made-recognising-rights-communities-world-conservation-congress-motions
<h2><a href="/news/201609progress-made-recognising-rights-communities-world-conservation-congress-motions">Progress made on recognising rights of communities - World Conservation Congress motions</a></h2> <div>
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<span>1 September, 2016</span> </div>
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<h3>Progress has been made on the issue of recognising the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities where protected areas have been created on their lands. </h3>
<p>Ahead of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s World Conservation Congress, Forest Peoples Programme put forward a motion to strengthen the practice of the Whakatane Mechanism, which uses fact-finding field missions and multi-stakeholder meetings to resolve conflict between different parties in complex situations and so achieve a win-win for communities and conservation.</p>
<p>As the results of the motions were today revealed, the motion – Motion 80 – was passed by a majority of 497 to 20, with 326 abstentions.</p>
<p>The approval of this motion will help raise awareness of the Whakatane Mechanism as a tool that has proved successful in resolving conflicts in areas which have been given official ‘protected’ status, while also being the ancestral homes of indigenous peoples and local communities. These communities’ way of life frequently integrates traditional conservation methods, and the mechanism is a way to bring the parties together in a peaceful setting to understand different perspectives and seek a resolution that meets the needs of all.</p>
<p>Motion 29 was also passed, by a count of 637 to 20, with 186 abstentions. This motion called for recognition that many indigenous peoples and local communities care for, self-govern, protect, sustainably use, restore and enrich their territories.</p><p class="read-more"><a href="/news/201609progress-made-recognising-rights-communities-world-conservation-congress-motions">Read more</a></p>Thu, 01 Sep 2016 08:55:07 +0000admin104 at http://whakatane-mechanism.orgWhakatane Mechanism Workshop at the IUCN World Conservation Congress – 3rd September 2016, Hawai’ihttp://whakatane-mechanism.org/news/201608whakatane-mechanism-workshop-iucn-world-conservation-congress-%E2%80%93-3rd-september-2016-hawai
<h2><a href="/news/201608whakatane-mechanism-workshop-iucn-world-conservation-congress-%E2%80%93-3rd-september-2016-hawai">Whakatane Mechanism Workshop at the IUCN World Conservation Congress – 3rd September 2016, Hawai’i</a></h2> <div>
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<span>31 August, 2016</span> </div>
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<p>The value of an innovative mechanism designed to resolve conflicts where indigenous peoples and local communities live in formally-listed protected areas will be explored in a workshop at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s World Conservation Congress next month.</p>
<p>Forest Peoples Programme will host <em>Can Whakatane Conflict Resolution Processes Snowball to the Global? Resolving community/conservation conflicts</em> at the event, being held in Hawai’I from 1-10 September.</p>
<p>The workshop will introduce delegates to the Whakatane Mechanism and its potential for resolving conflict between indigenous communities and conservation practitioners.</p>
<p>Developed from 2008, the Whakatane Mechanism brings people together to discuss the conflicts, facilitates a fact-finding mission in the field where the conflict is occurring, then brings people together to resolve the problem. </p>
<p>Drawing on experiences from sites where the mechanism has been implemented, it will particularly focus on the situation of the Sengwer, who continue to be evicted from Embobut forest, in western Kenya. </p>
<p>The workshop format is based on the Maori kanohi-ki-te-kanohi style, which will allow attendees to take to the stage. It aims to simulate a real-life situation where the Whakatane process is being implemented. </p>
<p>Using the experience of those attending, the workshop will work through the various problems and challenges that practitioners can expect to confront during the process, giving delegates a firmer, more practical understanding of the potential for this tool in the resolution of community and conservation conflicts.</p><p class="read-more"><a href="/news/201608whakatane-mechanism-workshop-iucn-world-conservation-congress-%E2%80%93-3rd-september-2016-hawai">Read more</a></p>Wed, 31 Aug 2016 07:35:15 +0000admin101 at http://whakatane-mechanism.orgWhakatane Mechanism Workshophttp://whakatane-mechanism.org/news/201608whakatane-mechanism-workshop
<h2><a href="/news/201608whakatane-mechanism-workshop">Whakatane Mechanism Workshop</a></h2><p> 27th August 2016</p>
<p><strong>Whakatane Mechanism Workshop at the IUCN World Conservation Congress – 3rd September 2016, Hawaii</strong></p>
<p>On 3rd September the Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) will be hosting a workshop at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii. The objective of the workshop will be to introduce delegates to the Whakatane Mechanism and its potential for resolving conflict between indigenous communities and conservation practitioners. </p>
<p>For further information please download the workshop flyer<a href="http://whakatane-mechanism.org/sites/whakatane/files/document/2016/Flyer%20V2%20Whakatane%20Mechanism%20Workshop.pdf"><strong> HERE</strong></a></p>
<p class="read-more"><a href="/news/201608whakatane-mechanism-workshop">Read more</a></p>Sat, 27 Aug 2016 10:21:39 +0000Gemma99 at http://whakatane-mechanism.orgWhakatane Mechanism launched at the WPC in Sydney, November 2014 http://whakatane-mechanism.org/news/201502whakatane-mechanism-launched-wpc-sydney-november-2014
<h2><a href="/news/201502whakatane-mechanism-launched-wpc-sydney-november-2014">Whakatane Mechanism launched at the WPC in Sydney, November 2014 </a></h2> <div>
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<span>24 February, 2015</span> </div>
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<p>The previous IUCN World Parks Congress (WPC) was held in Durban, South Africa in 2003. The historic marginalisation of indigenous peoples and local communities from conservation movements and policies resulted in a difficult push for the recognition of local communities’ rights, indigenous peoples’ contribution to conservation and the need for rights-based conservation approaches. Indigenous peoples and local communities were outside the system pushing to get in. However their efforts were successful and helped lead to the recognition of the “new conservation paradigm”.</p>
<p>11 years later, at the 2014 World Parks Congress in Sydney, indigenous peoples and local communities had a strong presence inside the process. Yet, the key question remains: <em>How many in the conservation world have really moved to a focus on acknowledging that conservation needs to support indigenous peoples and local communities’ own ways of owning, sustainably using and conserving their lands?</em></p><p class="read-more"><a href="/news/201502whakatane-mechanism-launched-wpc-sydney-november-2014">Read more</a></p>Tue, 24 Feb 2015 12:43:43 +0000admin96 at http://whakatane-mechanism.orgLaunch of the publication “World Heritage Sites and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights”http://whakatane-mechanism.org/news/201411launch-publication-%E2%80%9Cworld-heritage-sites-and-indigenous-peoples%E2%80%99-rights%E2%80%9D
<h2><a href="/news/201411launch-publication-%E2%80%9Cworld-heritage-sites-and-indigenous-peoples%E2%80%99-rights%E2%80%9D">Launch of the publication “World Heritage Sites and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights”</a></h2><p> Friday 14th November 17.30 to 19.00, at the WIN Pavilion</p>
<p>Join us for the launch of a publication by IWGIA, FPP and Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation on “World Heritage Sites and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights”, chaired by Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. </p>
<p>This book includes 20 case studies of World Heritage sites from around the world, with some relevant background articles. The case studies explore and document, from a human rights perspective, indigenous peoples’ experiences with World Heritage sites and with the processes of the World Heritage Convention. </p>
<p>They identify recurring concerns and systemic shortcomings in the implementation of the Convention, as well as opportunities the Convention may provide for indigenous peoples and the defence and promotion of their human rights. </p>
<p class="read-more"><a href="/news/201411launch-publication-%E2%80%9Cworld-heritage-sites-and-indigenous-peoples%E2%80%99-rights%E2%80%9D">Read more</a></p>Wed, 12 Nov 2014 10:33:56 +0000Gemma88 at http://whakatane-mechanism.orgLaunch of the Whakatane Mechanismhttp://whakatane-mechanism.org/news/201411launch-whakatane-mechanism
<h2><a href="/news/201411launch-whakatane-mechanism">Launch of the Whakatane Mechanism</a></h2><p> Friday 14th November 17.30 to 19.00, at the WIN Pavilion<br />
chaired by Aroha Te Pareake Mead</p>
<p><em>A Mechanism for promoting rights-based conservation through practical implementation of IUCN Resolutions, including redressing historical injustices and securing communities’ rights to their lands and territories.</em></p>
<p>Three pilot Whakatane Assessments are in progress in Kenya, Thailand, and DRC, and another in preparation in Indonesia. These will be presented and discussed at this official launch of the Mechanism, chaired by Aroha Te Pareake Mead, Chair of CEESP.</p>
<p>The Whakatane Mechanism originated from a dialogue between IUCN and indigenous peoples held in January 2011 at CEESP’s “Sharing Power” conference in Whakatane, New Zealand. It emerged out of the 2008 WCC’s call to develop “a mechanism to address and redress the effects of historic and current injustices against indigenous peoples in the name of conservation of nature and natural resources” (Res 4.052), and “a mechanism to … advance key recommendations of the Durban Accord and Durban Action Plan …” (Res 4.052). </p>
<p class="read-more"><a href="/news/201411launch-whakatane-mechanism">Read more</a></p>Wed, 12 Nov 2014 10:26:57 +0000Gemma87 at http://whakatane-mechanism.orgChepkitale Ogiek community document their customary bylaws for the first time in order to ensure the continued conservation of their ancestral lands and natural resourceshttp://whakatane-mechanism.org/news/201311chepkitale-ogiek-community-document-their-customary-bylaws-first-time-order-ensure
<h2><a href="/news/201311chepkitale-ogiek-community-document-their-customary-bylaws-first-time-order-ensure">Chepkitale Ogiek community document their customary bylaws for the first time in order to ensure the continued conservation of their ancestral lands and natural resources</a></h2> <div>
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<span>26 November, 2013</span> </div>
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<p><strong><a href="http://www.forestpeoples.org/topics/rights-based-conservation/video/2013/12/video-customary-bylaws-chepkitale-ogiek-mount-elgon" target="_blank">VIDEO: The Customary Bylaws of the Ogiek of Mount Elgon</a></strong></p>
<p>“We have never conserved. It is the way we live that conserves. These customary bylaws we have had forever, but we have not written them down until now." </p>
<p>As a result of an intense community process of mapping and dialogue, the Ogiek of Mount Elgon, Kenya, have finalised their bylaws in a document which opens with these words:</p>
<p>“The Ogiek have lived in their ancestral lands, Chepkitale, governed and bound by their traditions being the unwritten law. This is what is captured in this document in the simplest language possible. This is a product of the community, by the community. It has been written with all input coming from the community and agreed on and endorsed by the community. It brings a governance structure relevant to the community today as it has been for centuries.”</p>
<p>The process has involved much passionate debate. In a sense, the Ogiek are simply writing down how they have organised themselves and how they have managed their forest and moorlands since time immemorial, but as one community member pointed out: “When you write things to say this is what we should do then you get community members who disagree and you have to decide what to do". </p>
<p>At a huge meeting in Laboot in April 2013 the Ogiek community adopted its bylaws but only after major debate. Then finally, on 8 July 2013, the Laboot Declaration included the following key bylaws:</p><p class="read-more"><a href="/news/201311chepkitale-ogiek-community-document-their-customary-bylaws-first-time-order-ensure">Read more</a></p>Tue, 26 Nov 2013 15:13:47 +0000admin84 at http://whakatane-mechanism.orgForest Peoples Programme, Thai and Kenyan partners report back on 5th IUCN World Conservation Congresshttp://whakatane-mechanism.org/news/201210forest-peoples-programme-thai-and-kenyan-partners-report-back-5th-iucn-world-conservation
<h2><a href="/news/201210forest-peoples-programme-thai-and-kenyan-partners-report-back-5th-iucn-world-conservation">Forest Peoples Programme, Thai and Kenyan partners report back on 5th IUCN World Conservation Congress</a></h2> <div>
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<span>15 October, 2012</span> </div>
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<p>With generous assistance from the Rights and Resources Intiative (RRI) and IUCN’s Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP), Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) supported Thai and Kenyan partners to attend the 5th IUCN World Conservation Congress (WCC5) from 6-15 September in Jeju, South Korea. Fred Kibelio Ngeywo (Chepkitale Indigenous Peoples' Development Project, CIPDP, and from the Ogiek community at Mount Elgon, Kenya), Udom Charoenniyomphrai (Inter Mountain Peoples Education and Culture in Thailand Association, IMPECT), Kittisak Rattanakrajangsri (Indigenous Peoples’ Foundation for Education and Environment in Thailand) and Michael Kipkeu (Kenya Wildlife Service) were involved in supporting key motions (reports below), and presenting the Whakatane Mechanism which seeks “to address and redress the effects of historic and current injustices against indigenous peoples in the name of conservation of nature and natural resources”<a href="#_ftn1"></a>[1]. The FPP team also attended key workshops on the World Heritage Sites and a host of side events.</p>
<p><strong>FPP sponsored IUCN Motion on the World Heritage Convention and the Implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)</strong></p><p class="read-more"><a href="/news/201210forest-peoples-programme-thai-and-kenyan-partners-report-back-5th-iucn-world-conservation">Read more</a></p>Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:57:43 +0000admin81 at http://whakatane-mechanism.orgWhakatane Mechanism workshop invitation and draft Framework open for feedback by IUCN membershttp://whakatane-mechanism.org/news/201208whakatane-mechanism-workshop-invitation-and-draft-framework-open-feedback-iucn-members
<h2><a href="/news/201208whakatane-mechanism-workshop-invitation-and-draft-framework-open-feedback-iucn-members">Whakatane Mechanism workshop invitation and draft Framework open for feedback by IUCN members</a></h2> <div>
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<span>22 August, 2012</span> </div>
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<p>The Whakatane Mechanism, an IUCN “One Programme” initiative in which FPP is deeply involved, aims to ensure that conservation policy and practice respect the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities. The Mechanism includes undertaking a fieldwork assessment in a protected area by a multi-stakeholder taskforce. This taskforce provides recommendations to address human rights violations and facilitates a dialogue in order to reach joint solutions to be put in place by the various parties involved. The Mechanism also celebrates and promotes best practices in conservation and successful partnerships between indigenous peoples, local communities and protected areas authorities.</p>
<p>You can find more information about the Whakatane Mechanism on the website: <a href="http://www.whakatane-mechanism.org" target="_blank">www.whakatane-mechanism.org</a>. (in English, French and Spanish)</p>
<p><strong>Invitation to the Whakatane Mechanism workshop - 10 September 2012, IUCN WCC5, Jeju, South Korea</strong></p>
<p>The workshop 'The Whakatane Mechanism: A multi-stakeholder approach to solving human rights conflicts in protected areas' will be held at the IUCN World Conservation Congress on 10 September 2012 from 7pm to 9pm (in Room 202 of the Jeju International Convention Centre). This event will be held in English and is open to the public. Space is limited and will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Refreshments will be provided. <a href="/sites/fpp/files/news/2012/08/Whakatane%20side%20event%20leaflet%20Final%20DIGITAL%20VERSION%2006.08.12.pdf" target="_blank">Click here to download your invitation to the workshop</a>.</p><p class="read-more"><a href="/news/201208whakatane-mechanism-workshop-invitation-and-draft-framework-open-feedback-iucn-members">Read more</a></p>Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:13:52 +0000admin77 at http://whakatane-mechanism.org